Box Score WICHITA, Kan.- The Wichita State men's basketball team halted a two-game skid with an 82-77 win over Drake (11-10, 2-8) Wednesday night at Charles Koch Arena. With the win, the Shockers move to 13-8 overall and 4-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
WSU was led by Sean Ogirri's career-high 29 points while seniors Kyle Wilson and Ryan Martin also reached double-figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Wilson became the 37th player in Shocker history to reach 1,000 career points on his first basket of the game, a layup with 4:11 to play in the first half.
All five Bulldog starters reached double-figures with Aliou Keita and Josh Young leading the way with 15 points each. Nick Grant finished with 14 points while Ajay Calvin and Al Stewart scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Calvin put DU on the board early with a three-pointer on the team's first possession. Keita and Calvin combined for the Bulldogs' first nine points as they raced out to a 9-5 lead six minutes into the game. The Shockers answered with 12-0 run, which included an 8-0 run by Ogirri, to take a 16-9 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the half.
A layup by Stewart with 8:52 remaining started a 12-5 Bulldog run over the next four minutes to tie the score at 23. A 12-3 WSU run, spurred by an Ogirri three-pointer, gave the Shockers a 35-26 lead with 1:41 to go in the half. Free-throws by Grant and a layup by Stewart pulled DU within five, 35-30, at halftime.
The two squads traded baskets to open the second half. Matt Braeuer started a 10-2 run with a steal and an old-fashion three-point play. Wendell Preadom capped the run with a fastbreak layup to give WSU a 56-43 lead with 13:39 to play. An 11-2 run capped by a Gal Mekel three-pointer gave the Shockers their biggest lead of the game, 69-51, with just under eight minutes to play.
DU did not go away and came within two, 77-75, after two free-throws by Grant with just over a minute left. Senior Karon Bradley put the game away by hitting two free-throws with 12 seconds to play to give WSU the 82-77 win.
“I was really proud of my team tonight,” Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon said. “Our zone offense was great and our defense for about a 10 minute stretch in the second half was pretty good.”
The Shockers finished the game shooting 49 percent while holding DU to just 41 percent. WSU also forced 15 Bulldog turnovers and blocked four shots. The Shockers compiled 19 assists and only turned the ball over 12 times. Braeuer and Wilson recorded career-high assist totals with 10 and seven, respectively. Mekel also recorded a new career-high with nine points.
“Matt had a great night,” Turgeon said. “He was really a leader out there.”
The Shockers go in search of their first conference road win of the season as the team travels to Evansville, Ind., to take on the Evansville Aces (12-9, 5-5). Tip-off is at 7:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net, cable channel 34.
